Vast blob of warm water off NZ coast

[Eldorado]

"A spike in water temperature of up to 6C above average across a massive patch of ocean east of New Zealand is likely to have been caused by an “anti-cyclone” weather system, a leading scientist says.

"Appearing on heat maps as a deep red blob, the patch spans at least a million square kilometres – an area nearly 1.5 times the size of Texas, or four times larger than New Zealand – in the Pacific Ocean."

Full monty at the UK Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/27/hot-blob-vast-and-unusual-patch-of-warm-water-off-new-zealand-coast-puzzles-scientists

"“It’s the biggest patch of above average warming on the planet right now.

"Normally the temperatures there are about 15C, at the moment they are about 20C,” he said."

At Yahoo: https://au.news.yahoo.com/giant-hot-blob-pacific-ocean-near-new-zealand-064656731.html?

Edited December 28, 2019 by Eldorado

[+Desertrat56]

That seems concerning.  What are the effects?

[Habitat]

We would need to scan past records carefully to see if this is a one-off.

[Hankenhunter]

We had one off of BC's coast years ago. We were catching warm water fish all summer. I even caught a 50lb. baby ocean Sunfish. It made the weirdest noises as I removed the hook and released it. It sounded a bit like a baby crying. Sure spooked the tourists gathered around me on the dock I caught it from. Some started crying. Lol

[tmcom]

The Guardian, lol, may as well go to the Truth Magazine, plenty of assets in that.

It is more likely that the volcano that blew its lid, is the cause, than some negative, unicorn cyclone.

[Eldorado]

The 'hot blob' off the New Zealand coast: All you need to know

At the NZ Herald: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12296793

Edited December 28, 2019 by Eldorado

[Doug1029]

On 12/28/2019 at 3:03 AM, tmcom said:

The Guardian, lol, may as well go to the Truth Magazine, plenty of assets in that.

It is more likely that the volcano that blew its lid, is the cause, than some negative, unicorn cyclone.

Neither volcanoes nor cyclones.  Just lots of sun and little wind.  The "blob" is expected to dissipate as it moves eastward.  This is a non-event - so far.

Doug

[Jon the frog]

The biggest risk of climate change is the destruction of the ocean food web and plankton producing much of our oxygen. We cannot have a stable climate on a long-term basis, it change naturally and life adapt but if the speed of the change is too fast that's a big problem because practically nothing will be able to adapt fast enough.

[Robotic Jew]

When ya gotta go...ya gotta go!

[tortugabob]

Are they sure it's not an undiscovered underwater volcano?

[Troublehalf]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:03 AM, tmcom said:

The Guardian, lol, may as well go to the Truth Magazine, plenty of assets in that.

It is more likely that the volcano that blew its lid, is the cause, than some negative, unicorn cyclone.

As much as I dislike the Guardian, there is plenty of other sources covering the story out there. You gotta take your pick, unless you think the Guardian has made this all up and every source is referencing them? In a any case, if one is interested in an article, it's probably best to read other sources anyway; you often get a bigger picture and more information (local papers for example).

 

As for the article itself, a cause could be pacific decadal oscillation. I believe the west coast of USA/Canada has a similar issue a few years ago and that was a suggested cause (and by cause I mean how the phenomenon started, the what was causing the water to b e warmer, as in, what caused the water to be warmer). I would expect a sea volcano would have registered on various equipment. I guess it depends on how long it remains or if it goes or not. Bit of a shame for marine life; sudden temperature changes  can disrupt a lot.

[Seti42]

Cthulhu peed in the pool again. 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Seti42

[tmcom]

4 hours ago, Troublehalf said:

As much as I dislike the Guardian, there is plenty of other sources covering the story out there. You gotta take your pick, unless you think the Guardian has made this all up and every source is referencing them? In a any case, if one is interested in an article, it's probably best to read other sources anyway; you often get a bigger picture and more information (local papers for example).

 

As for the article itself, a cause could be pacific decadal oscillation. I believe the west coast of USA/Canada has a similar issue a few years ago and that was a suggested cause (and by cause I mean how the phenomenon started, the what was causing the water to b e warmer, as in, what caused the water to be warmer). I would expect a sea volcano would have registered on various equipment. I guess it depends on how long it remains or if it goes or not. Bit of a shame for marine life; sudden temperature changes  can disrupt a lot.

The Guardian makes pretty much everything up!

[Doug1029]

Don't think you need to worry about this one.  It's too small and in the wrong place to have much effect on weather on the American continents and will have to recur many times before it has a significant effect on climate, and then, only a minor effect.  Still, we might get a little rain out of it.

Doug

[NCC1701]

Nothing to see here: https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/primary/waves/overlay=sea_surface_temp/orthographic=186.02,-42.46,709/loc=172.551,-19.206